# Basma leaf



## Requiem (Dec 6, 2008)

I've been smoking McClelland's Virginia nº 24 and Frog Morton on the Town, both said to contain basma leaf. 
However, I can´t taste a similar flavour in both those blends and I still don't know what basma tastes like.

Virginia nº 24 is an excellent virginia, probably the best I had so far. The tin is from 2006, so that probably helps it being so damn good. Not much McCletchup aroma in the tin and a fantastic taste which progresses very well down the bowl.

Frog Morton on the Town is very different from other english blends... it has a kind of strange sweet/marshmellow flavour, which I think can be the basma but that I don´t detect on Virginia nº24.

So... how does basma tastes like?


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## dmkerr (Oct 27, 2008)

Basma has probably more sub-types than virginia (old belt, lemon, red, stoved, etc). Xanthi, Djebel, Mahalla, Yenidje and Katerini are all from the Basma family. The #24 has Drama leaf (another Basma) but they don't say which sub-type is in FOTT. I do not find the two tasting terribly similar, the latakia in FOTT notwithstanding.

Generically speaking, Basma has a light, sweet flavor - very subtle. Must be that Greek soil. Not a virginia sweetness but more of a nut or sunflower seed sweetness, if that makes any sense. Conversely, the orientals of Turkey tend to have a more earthy flavor (samsun, sokhoum, etc).


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## Requiem (Dec 6, 2008)

Thanks, Dan. 
I knew that, if no one else, at least you would be able to enlighten me a liitle about this.

Last night I smoked 2 bowls of FMOTT and the basma leaf in it really is really sweet and perfumy (not like Lakelands scent, but also soapy in another way). Not a very subtle flavour, IMO, and not one for everyday smoking, but a nice change of pace.

So, what kind of oriental leafs are used in pipe tobbaco? 
Are they all from the basma family?
For instance, leafs used in oriental blends (like Red Rapparee or Presbyterian) are also considered basma?


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## dmkerr (Oct 27, 2008)

Requiem said:


> Thanks, Dan.
> 
> So, what kind of oriental leafs are used in pipe tobbaco?
> Are they all from the basma family?
> For instance, leafs used in oriental blends (like Red Rapparee or Presbyterian) are also considered basma?


I don't know but I think RR and Presby use more of the Bachi-Bagli family of orientals - the heavier ones like samsun and sokhoum. But it's hard to say. Orientals are condiment leaf and a skillful blender can change his blend with careful use of this stuff to the point where it just screams "Oriental".

I'm no expert but I think the presence of latakia in both blends (yes, I believe there IS latakia in Presby, despite claims to the contrary) can mask the subtleties of various orientals so that they add spice but little of their own defining character. Just a theory.


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## dmkerr (Oct 27, 2008)

And by the way, you might be able to answer that question yourself in a few days!


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